Plymouth to Salcombe

Day 1 (23rd September)

We left St Mawes and drove to St Austell, parked the car and caught the train to Plymouth.  A quick taxi ride took us to the Grosvenor Hotel where we spent our first night.  The hotel is located just back from Plymouth Hoe and only a short walk from The Barbican area.  After wandering down to the Barbican and having a drink we went to Kuku for supper, an excellent Japanese restaurant only a short walk from the hotel.

Day 2 (24th September)

Plymouth to Wembury via The Mount Batten Ferry.

After an excellent breakfast at the hotel we walked along Plymouth Hoe down to the Barbican and the Mount Batten Ferry at about 09:30.  £3 pounds each payable by card and 10 minutes later we were discharged on the Mount Batten side.  The walking was fairly easy with good views across Plymouth Sound.  We stopped for a coffee after about 1.5 hours at Cliff Edge Cafe run by two lovely ladies.  More gentle walking followed and we arrived at Wembury Beach at about 14:00.  Unfortunately the National Trust Cafe on the beach was closed (staff training day apparently), so we had a longish walk up the hill to the Odd Wheel Pub, where we shared an excellent chicken Sandwich.  At about 15:30 we checked into our bed and breakfast Shearwater to be greeted by Robin, who made us very welcome.  We returned in the evening to the Odd Wheel pub for a pie and a pint for the offer price of £15 each (greet value).

Day 3 (25th September)

Wembury to Bigbury

The big day.  Timing was everything today.  We had breakfast at 08:30 at our b&b and then left at 09:10.  We walked down the hill to Wembury beach and then along the coast for 1.5 miles to Warren Point to catch the first ferry of the day at 10:00.  Walking was pretty easy and we arrived 20 minutes early and met up with 3 other walkers all waiting for the ferry.  Bill McGregor the ferryman turned up promptly at 10:00.  The price is £4.50 each and be warned he only takes cash which we did not have!  No worries he said when you get to Mothecombe buy me 2 beers behind the bar at The School House Cafe, which of course we did.

The rain came down continuously and we walked for 4 hours with a short stop for coffee from our thermos.  The walking is flat initially but the last few miles to the estuary become much harder.  The rain by this stage had stopped and we had a little bite to eat on the beach and enjoyed the views of this beautiful isolated estuary.  The tide was still in and the estuary would not be able to be forded for a couple more hours so we rang Ivycabs (01752 895555) and 20 minutes later were picked up from the car park of the School House Cafe. The taxi transfer took to Wonwell Beach took about 20 mins and cost £30. Our driver would have preferred cash but allowed us to transfer him the money.  We managed but it was tricky as Wonwell beach had just 1 bar of 4G signal on Vodafone!

The last 5 miles from The River Erme to Bigbury was very up and down, but it was now dry and the sun was occasionally shinning.  Burgh Island came into sight.

Shortly we arrived in the Car Park outside the Venus Cafe at 17:00. Picture shows an exhausted wife!
Our taxi was arranged to pick us up at 17:30 (24/7 ) and take us to our Airbnb in Kingsbridge (130 Fore Street) .  Both the taxi and the Airbnb were excellent.
We ate that evening at The Old Bakery Restaurant, which has a Tapas Menu.  We were well looked after and the food was good.

Day 4 Batham to Salcombe

Having had an excellent night’s sleep and dried everything we walked down the street to get breakfast at a cafe, got caught in a downpour and were absolutely soaked again and the walk had not even started!
The taxi arrived at 09:45 and we were at Bantham by 10:00.  The rain was coming down and as we struggled past Thurlestone Golf course we were amazed to see people defying the continuous downpour and playing golf.

After 4 miles we arrived into Hope Cove and tried to dry out with a coffee at The Hope and Anchor pub.

7 more miles with intermittent rain and sunshine saw us arrive at Salcombe Estuary.  The last couple of hills after South Sands and North Sands by this stage were tough on our now quite tired legs.

We arrived at The Fortescue Inn at 15:30.  This is a pub right in the middle of town and we were warmly welcomed by the staff.  Although maybe a little noisy the room was pretty good and the location was excellent.
We ate that evening at The Salcombe Coffee Company Bistro night.  A bit of a treat at £32 for 2 courses.

Day 5 Returning Home

After an excellent breakfast at The Fortescue Inn and a bit of shopping we caught the 10:25 Bus from Salcombe to Totnes and then the train back to St Austell.  We picked up our car and were home for 13:30.

Picture shows the view back to Hope Cove Beach.